Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
| VPN Service | Price | ARD Mediathek | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SurfsharkBEST | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | May 24 | Try it |
 NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | May 24 | Open |
 ExpressVPN | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | May 25 | Open |
 Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | May 21 | Open |
 CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ✓ Works | May 20 | Open |
 IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ✓ Works | May 22 | Open |
 ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ✓ Works | May 20 | Open |
✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ WorksTakes about 2 minutes — works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
ARD Mediathek is only available in Germany. To access it from anywhere else, use a premium VPN.
ARD Mediathek also works in Austria and in Switzerland, but with limited content compared to fully available countries. Surfshark unlocks full access.
ARD Mediathek is blocked in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada and in New Zealand, plus in 186 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
ARD Mediathek is the shared streaming and catch-up portal of Germany’s public broadcasting federation ARD, which is made up of nine regional broadcasters (Bayerischer Rundfunk, WDR, NDR, MDR and others). The app carries the live stream of Das Erste, the children’s channel KiKA, culture-focused 3sat and news network tagesschau24, with no ads and no subscription fee. The whole service is funded by the German broadcasting licence (Rundfunkbeitrag) and, as a result, geographically restricted to Germany.
4 tips from our ARD Mediathek testing team · Updated May 25, 2026
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Everything you need to know before subscribing to ARD Mediathek.
Head straight to ARD Mediathek: no VPN required in supported countries.
Part of the ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) family.
Go to ARD Mediathek
